With the completion of week 6, season 10 of Dana White’s Contender Series is now over halfway done. Other than the first fight of the night, this wasn’t a bad week. It was nice to see Dana give a good fighter another shot on the show after a rough performance. Also, we got a bunch of finishes. Overall, this wasn’t a great crop of fighters getting brought into the UFC. Still, I’m glad the general audience finally got introduced to a future title contender in Akbar Abdullaev.
Tyshawn Williams vs Antonio Monteiro
We kicked tonight’s episode with an ugly fight. Williams got off to a slow start as he tried to get his wrestling going. They stalled on the cage for a while, but towards the end of the round, Williams was able to get off some great ground and pound. It looked like he was on his way to finishing Monteiro. Yet Williams came out for round two gassed. He did a bit more cage pushing and landed a couple of good shots on the feet. But he tripped while backing up and finished the round with his back taken. I thought you could’ve given Williams the round, but it was so close you can’t be mad either way.
The message for Williams from his corner going into the last round was to box for a bit and not panic-shoot. He did just that, so he secured the last round and a unanimous decision victory.
This wasn’t the most exciting fight, and I don’t think Williams deserved a contract, but Dana handled it well. Williams is definitely good enough to compete in the UFC. Therefore, I think bringing him back to Contender Series for another chance is perfect.
Luis Hernandez vs Hugo Guillon
This fight played out exactly like we thought it would. This was a sloppy middleweight fight with two possible outcomes. Either Hernandez would out-dog Guillon, or Guillon would outlast Hernandez’s cardio. The first round was a crazy back-and-forth war with Hernandez leading the dance. He stayed on the front foot and kept the action moving. Guillon had a few good moments towards the end of the round when Hernandez looked tired. However, it was not enough to take the round. Hernandez came out for round two clearly gassing, but he had more dog in him. Guillon dropped Hernandez and had the win in his hands, but failed a really bad submission attempt. As a result, he ended up in a bad position, and Hernandez out-scrambled him back up. Hernandez then took Guillon’s back and finished the fight via rear-naked choke.
While he got the win and finished tonight, I’m not sure Hernandez is a middleweight. He seemed really small in the cage, and a better fighter will handle him. Hernandez has bad cardio, and again, against better opponents, that will be an issue. I don’t think he has a high ceiling at all, but at the very least, this dude is going to be in some bangers. Even if he doesn’t do well on his first contract, I can definitely see the UFC keeping him around. That’s because he is a lot of fun.
Akbar Abdullaev vs Ednilson Santos
I said it in my prediction write-up, but Santos was truly a lamb being led out to slaughter. If you couldn’t tell, the Prospect Vault team is very high on Abdullaev, as he entered our top 25 prospects in the top 5 immediately. This guy is already capable of competing at the highest level in the UFC, and I’m glad he scored a highlight-reel knockout to introduce himself.
Igor Cavalcanti vs Oscar Ravello
After a loss in his first Contender Series fight, Cavalcanti made up for it today. He came out doing what he needed to do to win this, and that was swinging big. The longer this fight went on, the more it would play into Ravello’s hands. Cavalcanti tends to lose steam fast after the first round. So finding the big shot early is exactly what he needed. After dropping Ravello, it actually took Cavalcanti a bit to find the finish. I was worried he was gonna gas himself out. However, Cavalcanti landed solid ground-and-pound that forced the ref to stop the fight.
Cavalcanti is in the same boat as Hernandez for me. By that I mean I don’t see a very high ceiling, but I definitely see fun fights in his future. He is another big-time finisher that slows down hard after the first. In addition, Cavalcanti might be able to stick around in the UFC by scoring cool knockouts against lower-level guys. However, I don’t see him breaking into the upper level of the division.
Mayton Perea vs Zevan Hunt
Mayton Perea made easy work of Zevan Hunt in this one. They got off to a quick start with Perea landing big punches and Hunt scoring a takedown. Unfortunately for Hunt, Perea literally just stood up. From there, it was over as Perea overwhelmed Hunt with big shots and found the finish. The ref got there a little late, so Hunt went out to some shots on the ground he probably didn’t need to take.
Perea is a physical monster, but the holes are obvious. His first layer of takedown defense isn’t bad if he reacts in time, but the just-stand-up method won’t work against better guys. However, with his physical attributes, punching power, and the fact that he is only 26 years old, if Perea keeps improving, he definitely has an interesting future.
